The NineTailed Guardian
by Zephyrclaws
Summary: Naruto is accidentally transported to Spira Final Fantasy X while attempting to master the Hiraishin no jutsu, and decides to accompany Yuna as a guardian. Fem. Kyuubi is benevolent, if a little bloodthirsty. Naruto x Kyuubi, possible harem.
1. Finally, the Hiraishin!

The Nine-Tailed Guardian

I don't even live in Japan (yet), and, as such, i own neither Naruto nor Final Fantasy.

Summary:

Naruto is accidentally transported to Spira (Final Fantasy X) while attempting to master the Hiraishin no jutsu, and decides to accompany Yuna as a guardian. Fem. Kyuubi is benevolent, if a little bloodthirsty.

Naruto x Kyuubi.

Naruto sighed tiredly. No matter how hard he tried, all that happened when he attempted the Hiraishin was that he succeeded in making himself look incredibly stupid. Not that he minded, but it _was_ frustrating to have gotten almost nowhere after three years of training. Without the Fox's help, he probably wouldn't be able to stand right now. "Alright, once more!" going through the complicated hand signs, he prayed that it would work this time...

Yuna frowned. There was some sort of weapon on her bed. She was sure she'd never sealed her door, how on Spira did it get there? She decided to go ask Lulu if she could identify it. As she reached over to pick it up, she was startled to see a young, orange-clad boy appear in front of her, grin, and collapse.

_A few hours later_

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Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit hut, with no idea where he was, and very little on how he got there. "Hey, fox, do you know where we are?" He got no answer, which freaked him out a little, as this had never happened before. Closing his eyes, he retreated to a place deep within him, where he could see a large cage, the dwelling of the Kyuubi. As he peered within the cage, he could just barely make out the form of a humanoid body, which appeared to be sleeping in the two or three inches of water that covered the place. Hesitantly, he slipped between the bars, to figure out what was wrong. As he approached the body, he discovered something that, quite literally, took his breath away.

The sleeping form before him was not, as he had expected, a fox, nor was it a man; Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox, the most destructive force known to man, was female.


	2. Welcome to Spira!

The Nine-Tailed Guardian

Chapter 2: Welcome to Spira

AN: I'm sorry this took so long, my mom's computer has gone berserk, and after several failed attempts at this chapter, I've decided to just start over on my dad's.

In this, pretty much the only change from the canon is that Naruto was told about his parents from the beginning, and, obviously, he has access to some of his father's jutsu scrolls.

Hunter 152: yes, there will be freakage. read on.

Trinity the Kitsune Kunoichi: I'm trying to not saturate the story with too many Naruto characters. there will be Kakashi, Hinata, Orochimaru, and maybe Sakura. As to how they get there, i've got everyone figured out except Orochimaru, any feedback on that particular problem shall be appreciated. also, i will do my best to have

the characters act as they would in the show, with the exception of Naruto and Hinata, Naruto being a little more sensitive woman-wise, and Hinata braver, but still a little shy.

Xander: It may be a little odd, but that makes it unique. Besides, being accurate to the canon, until now, Naruto has pretty much ignored the Kyuubi unless he needed power. At least I won't make him godlike. XD

^^: Sorry, no voting on the harem thing. That, i shall decide on my own. Also, this isn't supposed to be a comedy story (there will be humor, don't get me wrong), and Kyuubi will only be mildly "possessive" of him unless he uses four tails or more. XD

Please, everyone, keep the reviews coming! I deeply enjoy knowing that my art (for that is how i choose to think of this) is appreciated. Please note: any serious and/or unwarranted flaming will be completely ignored, so don't bother.

Italics are for thoughts, anything else is just emphasis.

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**" **AAAAAAAAH!!!!" Naruto backpedaled towards the bars, trying not to trip over his jaw. The woman awoke, twitching slightly, and turned around to see a seriously weirded-out Naruto. Immediately, she morphed into her larger, more intimidating fox form, but it was too late, the damage was done. Sighing resignedly, she resumed her human form.

"Y-You're a woman?"

Kyuubi groaned. "Kit, what the fuck are you doing here? Are you so dim that you don't understand the meaning of the word 'privacy'?"

"This is **my** body! Anyway, why didn't you tell me you were a woman?"

"Dumbass. I didn't tell you because it's none of your business. Why do you care, anyway? You pretty much ignore me all the time anyway."

At this, the Kyuubi looked genuinely hurt, but she managed to hide it before Naruto noticed. "Why are you here, anyway? You don't seem to be in mortal danger, although if you keep annoying me, I could fix that."

"Well, I think I finally managed to use the Hiraishin! the only problem is, I have no idea where we ended up..."

"What, you think I have some kind of magic map or something? Without the use of your eyes, I have even less of a clue as to where we are than you do."

"Haven't you traveled the entire world? You are immortal, right?"

"First off, kit, let me set something straight. I _was_ immortal, before that jerk sealed me inside of you. Now, when you die, I die. Second, how old do you think I am? Answer carefully."

"Well... the legends about you say that you're thousands of years old..."

"Wrong. Those legends refer to my mother. I am only 17." At this, Naruto's mind couldn't take any more, and he passed out. Kyuubi sighed. "We'll have to talk about this later..."

1/2 Hour Later

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Naruto awoke, and sat up to find a girl, about the same age as him, sitting in a nearby chair, staring at him. Her eyes sparkled with with curiosity, one ocean blue like his own, the other a deep emerald green. For a moment, they just sat there staring at each other, until Naruto broke the

silence. "Hey, could you tell me where I am?"

"You're in my house. Are you new here? I don't remember seeing you in the village before, so I didn't know where to take you when you passed out. What were you doing in here anyway?"

"That's surprising. I'm the number-one strongest ninja in Konoha! I've lived here all my life. As to what I was doing here, I was kinda hoping you could tell me." The girl looked at him oddly.

"What's Konoha? I think you must be confused. You're on the Isle of Besaid, my home. What do you mean you were hoping I could tell you? How would I know? You're a lousy liar, and probably a thief, to boot." At this, she started to look angry, and Naruto raised his hands in a "surrender" gesture.

"I swear, I'm not lying to you! I was honestly hoping you could tell me, unless..." He looked at her sharply "Do you have any odd-looking knife, with three points?" (A/N: for a picture, go to the Naruto wikia and search for the "Flying Thunder God Technique")

"How did you know? I found one on my bed right before you... appeared."

"That explains it... tell me, have you ever heard of the Hiraishin?" She shook her head, and he continued. "It was a jutsu used by... a famous man in my village. It instantly transports me to wherever there is the proper seal, like one of these." Ignoring her quizzical look, he pulled out

a tri-kunai, pointing to the seal on the handle.

She sat there for a moment, before asking, "What's a jutsu?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Whaaaat!? you're telling me you don't know what a jutsu is? You're kidding, right? I suppose next you'll tell me you don't know what chakra is?" Seeing her dumbfounded expression, he sighed deeply. "There are two types of chakra (A/N This is before Jiraiya's

death): Spiritual chakra, gained through experience and learning, and physical chakra, gained through training and exercise. when you mix them together, you can focus it using hand signs, and perform jutsu. There are three basic kinds of jutsu: Genjutsu, which uses chakra to create

illusions of the mind, Taijutsu, which uses chakra to enhance physical blows; punches, kicks, etc. Last is Ninjutsu, which is pretty much everything else. Here, I'll demonstrate." Naruto made a cross seal, and said "Shadowclone Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke, a perfect replica of naruto was standing right beside him. He glanced toward the chair the girl was sitting in, only to see that she had fainted. _Jeez, I haven't even told her the_ really _scary part yet._

_Another_ 1/2 Hour Later

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Yuna awoke to find herself on her own bed, with a certain blonde- haired shinobi loooking at her worriedly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just a little... surprised, I guess..." As she said this, a voice called from outside the entryway. "Yuna! are you okay in there? You've been in there an awfully long time just for getting ready to go to the beach, ya?" Another voice, reminiscent of Sasuke, but female, joined the first one. "Is there a boy in there?"

"Well, yeah..." Immediately, the two speakers burst into the room looking **very** upset. (A/N If you don't already know what Lulu and Wakka look like, look it up on Wikipedia.) It didn't help that Yuna was on her bed, with Naruto leaning over her. The woman in the black dress glared at Naruto and said "If you've so much as touched her..." The man finished, "You won't be having any children, ya?" Yuna turned a bright crimson, and stammered "N-n-no Lulu, Wakka, it's nothing like that!"

"Exactly what is it, then?" The woman said, still glaring at Naruto. Sheepishly, he said "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

"Try me." Naruto groaned "Not again... Ah, well, I guess it can't be helped. First off, do you know what Chakra is?" Lulu's eyes widened in shock, while Wakka just stood there looking clueless. Naruto continued with his explanation, but when he demonstrated with his Shadowclone, Lulu rushed towards him and hugged him fiercely "I've found you!" She exclaimed, before realizing that Naruto was on the floor, unconscious. "Oops..." Then, noticing Yuna and Wakka's comined bewilderment, she turned to Wakka. "Do you remember that man that came here about eight years ago(A/N This is one year before the events of FFX), and ended up becoming a guardian to Braska?" Wakka thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "What about him?" "He used Chakra as well, don't you remember? His name was Kakashi and he was..." for a moment, Lulu's eyes lost their focus, as she stared into space with a very un-Lulu-like grin on her face. "Uh, Lulu? Hello? Explanation?"

"Oh, right. Anyway, unlike our guest here, he came willingly, to look for someone. Before he left, he described the person he was looking for, and he asked me to look after him if ever i found him; this is the one he was looking for, his student Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!"

Guess how much later? Yup, 1/2 an hour.

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Naruto came to to find and extremely well-endowed black mage sitting beside him on a different bed from before, looking at him kindly. "Ah, Naruto. You're finally awake."

"Yeah... Wait a minute! How do you know my name!?"

"About ten years ago, a man washed up on the shore of Besaid. He had spiky silver hair, one black eye, and one red eye with three tomoe."

"Kakashi-sensei! Where is he!?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto, he's... dead." Naruto stared at her in shock, tears raining down his cheeks. "No... it can't be! Kakashi-sensei is one of the strongest shinobi I know!"

"I'm so sorry, Naruto, I know how you must feel... Before he died, he asked me to take care of you, should I ever find you. He also gave me some scrolls that he said belonged to your parents, and some letters from your village. If you want, you could stay with me..." Naruto nodded his head quietly, still overwhelmed by grief.

Then, something snapped. His ' whiskers' became more prominent, his eyes turned red, and a single tail made of an evil orange-red energy swished ominously behind him. A cloak of that same energy spread from his feet to cover his entire body. In a quiet voice that promised violence, he whispered, "Tell us, who killed him?" Lulu gaped for a few seconds before responding. "It's name is... Sin. It's a monster that terrorizes Spira continuously. The only way to gain relief from it is by a summoner performing a ritual called the Final Summoning. The creature summoned by this ritual is strong enough to beat Sin, but the summoner and his/her guardians almost always die. Once Sin is defeated, we have ten years of Calm before it comes back, and another summoner must go to defeat it."

When Lulu finished her explanation, she was relieved to see Naruto revert to his normal form, but she immediately rushed over to him as he collapsed on the bed, the burns on his skin fading rapidly, but still noticeable. _Interesting... and a little scary._ She left the room, deep in thought.

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A/N: well, there goes another one. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to update more often, but I don't have free access to an Internet-capable computer at home, so I cannot tell you when I'll put up the next one, but if all goes well, it should be soon.


	3. Loss

The Nine-Tailed Guardian

Chapter 3: Loss

A/N I would like to thank Challenger for the awesome artwork; in this chapter, naruto's clothes get (mostly) shredded, and if you don't mind, I would have the new ones look like the ones he's wearing in Naruto-Within (the one with Kyuubi in the background) also, I like the idea of kyuubi (yes, she has a name of her own, to be revealed this chapter) having blue eyes (unless she gets mad)

The timeline should be much more understandable by the end of this chapter, if it isn't, please let me know; I'll most likely explain it in an A/N in chapter 4, if that is the case. Also, anyone with any ideas on how to introduce Orochimaru to Spira, please, tell me. I'm kinda stuck on that one.

Please note: Naruto's arrival is 1 year before the actual events of FFX. Also, in this story, Auron stays dead, only giving the group advice when they visit the Farplane in Guadosalam.

Disclaimer: Much as I'd love it to be so, neither Naruto nor Final Fantasy X belong to me.

And now, on with the show. Enjoy!

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Naruto stared at the ceiling, thinking about all the good times he'd had with, and sometimes at the expense of, Kakashi. He remembered the time that he, Sakura, and Sasuke had tried to get Kakashi's mask off, and sighed. He'd never get to see Kakashi's face... He'd been doing this for a few days now, and, frankly, Lulu was sick of it. It was time to take matters into her own hands.

She stuck her head in through the doorway. "Naruto, I can understand that you would grieve Kakashi's death, but you've got to pull yourself together! Are you gonna just lay there for the rest of your life? What about your dream of becoming a great ninja?" Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." Lulu brightened considerably at this (well, as much as Lulu can) and she even gave him a small smile. "Glad to hear it. Well, now that you've... recovered, there's gonna be a bonfire in the village center tonight; you can tell everyone your story then." As she left, Naruto thought to himself, That might not be the best idea... Then, Kyuubi spoke up. "Don't worry, kit, I'll behave." "Hey, why do you call me 'kit'? You're only a year older than I am!"

In Naruto's mindscape, Kyuubi winced. Oops...

A few hours later, as Naruto was heading through the flaps, she spoke up again. "Hey, are you planning on telling them about me?" Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I guess... why do you want to know?" The Kyuubi rolled her eyes. "Because, I would rather be called by my real name, not my mother's title." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, embarassed. "I guess I never thought about that before... so, what is your real name?"

"It's Ikari." Naruto laughed. "Anger of God? Well, it fits..." Kyuubi rolled her eyes again. Oh, if only I could strangle him... "That wasn't my fault, you know..." At this point, however, Naruto had stopped listening to her, and didn't hear it.

Naruto walked into the firelight, his 'whiskers' casting eerie shadows on his face. He saw Lulu, Yuna, and Wakka, and another, unfamiliar boy that looked a lot like Wakka (A/N: Chappu died about a year before Tidus came, right?). Immediately, the villagers became quiet, staring at him expectantly. Here goes nothing... "Well, it all started one day when a giant, nine-tailed fox attacked my village..." Several of the villagers started laughing at him, and, try as he might, he could not make himself heard. Angrily, he began walking down the path leading out of the village, and ended up sitting on the beach, staring at the full moon, and the waves upon which its silvery light was reflected. Yuna softly sat by his side, her eyes shining with worry. "I'm sorry the villagers didn't believe you..."

"S'okay, that wasn't your fault; seriously though, they've never heard of the Biju?" Yuna frowned. "What's a Biju?" Naruto sighed, and said, "The nine biju are the most powerful beings in my world. They're so powerful that they create huge natural disasters, like earthquakes, and cyclones, just by existing, and they cannot directly be killed by a mortal. Each Biju's rank is shown by the number of tails it has, from the weakest, the One-Tailed Tanuki (A/N: Raccoon? Badger? *shrugs*) to the strongest, the Nine-Tailed Fox. One day, the Fox attacked our village, I don't know why. Our lord, the Fourth Hokage, knew that he couldn't kill the Fox, so he sealed it within his newborn son, to protect his beloved village." Naruto pulled up his shirt, making Yuna blush, and exposing the ink on his stomach. "This is the seal he used. Unfortunately, using this seal cost him his life, leving me an orphan. I was born early because my mother was so stressed, and the medics... they couldn't stop the bleeding. No one knows why, and it's suspected that someone poisoned her, although there was not a shred of proof to be found." Naruto looked out into the waves, contemplating the seeming gentleness of the sea, and paused for a moment before asking, "What's your story?"

"Well," she began, "up until I was six, I lived a fairly normal life. My mother died when I was young, but I had my father, and we were happy. And then, on my sixth birthday, Sin was reborn. My father, being a man of Fayth (XD), felt it was his duty to become a Summoner, and rid Spira of its evil for another ten years. He began his pilgrimage, with your sensei, and a young warrior-monk named Auron. He completed his pilgrimage, and defeated Sin with the aid of the Final Aeon." seeing Naruto's clueless expression, she laughed lightly. "I take it by the look on your face that you don't know about Aeons? Well, it seems it's my turn to explain things. Aeons are creatures comprised of heroic souls sealed in stone statues, called Fayths. Every summoner, in order to defeat Sin, must go on a pilgrimmage to every Fayth in Spira, and pray to it. If a Summoner's prayers are strong enough, and their heart is pure enough, the Fayth answers their prayers by allowing them to summon the Aeons sealed within. Anyway, before he set out, he sent me here to Besaid, where I've made friends with Lulu, Wakka, and his brother Chappu. We're really happy here, but I'm worried. It's been almost ten years since Sin was defeated, and it will be reborn soon."

From behind them, the two heard voices calling out to them, and waved as Lulu, Wakka, and Chappu joined them on the shore. Wakka asked, "What've you two been doin', huh?" "Just talking," Yuna answered. "He told me his story, and I told him mine." "Would you mind tellin' it again? We'd all like to hear it, ya?" Then, Naruto retold his story, much to the amazement of his new friends. Lulu asked, when he finished, "Kakashi told me, before he left, that you have some abilities that are... unique, in Spira. Do you think you could show us some?" Yuna interjected. "He's already shown me one, the reason I was unconscious when you came in was because he showed me his... What did you call it again?" Yuna looked over at Naruto. "It's called the Shadowclone Jutsu, and it's my signature move. Here, let me show you!" Naruto made a cross seal, and a shadowclone 'poofed' into exisance beside him. Both Narutos grinned and rubbed the back of their heads, in perfect sync. Naruto dispelled the clone, and yawned. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting pretty sleepy. G'night!" Together, they walked back to the village. Naruto could still see some of the villagers sniggering at him, but he decided to let it go. As he followed Lulu through the doorway, he could hear the peaceful sounds of a village drifting off to sleep. He lay down on the pallet of blankets Lulu had made for him, and spent a dreamless night asleep. Unbeknownst to him, Ikari had projected some of her chakra out of him, forming eyes that gazed upon him fondly...

The next morning, Naruto awoke to find Lulu cooking breakfast, a savory scent emitting from the kitchen. Naruto's eyes widened. Could it possibly be what he hoped it was, or was this the gods playing a mean trick on him? He snuck up behind her, and almost made her jump out of her skin when he shouted, "RAMEN!!!" He gave the still-recovering Lulu a bear hug, causing her to blush slightly. "Naruto, it's kind of hard to make ramen with my arms pinned..."

Naruto let go, still bouncing up and down with excitement. "Kakashi told me this was your favorite food, I decided to cook it to make up for what happened last night. Do you really like it that much?" Naruto grinned. "Ramen is the best food ever! I'd eat it for every meal if I could!"

Lulu smiled. "Well, I don't know about every meal." Naruto grinned again, and they both ate their breakfast, Naruto holding back (Compared to his usual), and only eating three bowls of ramen, as Lulu watched, dumbfounded. Wow. That kid sure does like his ramen. He's actually kinda cute... she stopped this line of thought short, and helped Naruto clean up the dishes. Together, they walked down to the beach, where everyone was waiting for them. Wakka offered Naruto a pair of his old swim trunks, and the girls carried their swimsuits to the nearest cliff to change. Wakka taught Naruto how to play blitzball, and soon all three boys were taking practice shots out into the ocean, with Naruto running on the water to catch the ball when it went too far.

Suddenly, a loud roaring sound was heard, out in the general direction of the sea, and a pale, dark- haired figure could be seen running on the water, attempting to escape a large brownish creature, with a lot of glowing tentacles (A/N Think the first miniboss on FFX, but mobile). As she drew closer, Naruto was shocked to see that her eyes were a pale lavender color, with no pupils! "Hinata!" he yelled, rushing out to her rescue. Lulu, Yuna, Wakka, and Chappu were amazed at the superhuman speed at which Naruto moved. In an instant, he was beside Hinata, just in time to catch her when she stumbled. She looked up at him, and smiled. "So this is what heaven is like..." Naruto looked at her oddly. "Uh, Hinata? You're definitely not in heaven, not yet. Naruto is so... Wait a minute, what? Then that means I'm... Hinata turned beet red, and fainted. Naruto sighed. Some things never change... He set Hinata down on the sand, and turned to face the Sinspawn behind him. "Hey, ugly! You wanna fight? I'll give you a fight, all right!" "Naruto!" Lulu called. "That's not a good idea! Those things are extremely powerful!" "So am I, bring it!" Naruto summoned a shadowclone, and an orb of whirling blue energy formed in his hand.

He leapt toward the Sinspawn, shouting, "Rasengan!" He punched the Rasengan into the creature, but he only made a slight dent in its armor. It whipped his face with a tentacle, and his life became a world of pain, as the sea creature began whaling on him (XD). A battered and bruised Naruto was flung back onto the beach, and he found himself in his mindscape. "Help...me..." Ikari sighed. "You can't do anything without me, can you? Very well." A pool of red chakra spread out from between the bars of Ikari's cage, enveloping Naruto like a protective cloak, with two fox tails waving behind him. Naruto opened his eyes, which were now a feral crimson, and growled. "Okay, you overgrown squid, you asked for it! Naruto held out both of his hands and an orb similar to the first appeared, only about fifty times bigger. He smashed it into the Sinspawn, this time with much more satisfting results. A multitude of rainbow-colored souls burst from within it, and it faded away to nothing. Naruto's cloak soon followed, and he stumbled over to Hinata, checking to make sure she was okay, before falling to the sand, unconscious.

Naruto woke a few minutes later, to find a worried Hinata hovering over him, her lavender eyes shining with concern, and... something else, something he couldn't quite identify. As he sat up, he heard Ikari shout, "You idiot! She loves you!" Naruto blinked, and looked at Hinata in a new light. "Oh." "What is it?" Hinata asked, leaning in towards him. "Ikari just told me... you have... feelings for me?" Hinata then gave Naruto a hug that was almost strong enough to crush his ribs. "Oh, Naruto, I've always loved you, I was just... not brave enough to tell you." She clung to him tightly, afraid of his reaction. Naruto chuckled. "What a fool..." Hinata looked up at him, on the verge of tears. He continued, "What a fool I was for not seeing this before. Hinata... I've always thought you were nice, but I was worried about what your father would think if I were to... admit... that I love you. However, all the love in the world won't save me if you crush my ribs," he said, smiling gently. "Naruto!" she shouted, before giving him a smouldering kiss. Then, realizing what she'd done, she promptly turned red, and fainted.

Naruto heard a voice from within his mind. "Awww, they make a cute couple." "Quiet, mother! He'll hear us!"

Naruto frowned. "Us? Who else is in there?" Ikari groaned. "Of all the times to start being observant!" "Hey, who else is in there?!" Ikari growled. "That's none of your damn business, you twerp!" A deep, rumbling voice came from the background. "Ikari! What have I told you about swearing?" Ikari sighed. "Don't..." was her grumbled reply. "As for you, little one, let me tell you a story..."

"Sixteen years ago, my husband and I were celebrating the first birthday of our precious daughter." Ikari cut in. "Moooom, stop, you're embarassing me!" "That's my job, sweetie, now stop interrupting. Anyway, we were celebrating Ikari's birthday, when the most curious man came to visit us. I remember looking him in the eye, and then, next thing I know, I'm stuck in this cage with my daughter, and my husband nowhere to be found... I remember, the reason I found hims so curious, is that he had the strangest red eyes..."

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Well, there goes another one, this time much faster! I've tried to make this chapter longer, and yet I finished it within 2 days of intense work! I may not be able to do this every time, but I'll do my best!

As always, keep the reviews coming! :) 'till next time!


	4. Out of the Darkness

The Nine-Tailed Guardian

Chapter 4: Out of the Darkness

A/N:If you don't like NaruHina, go write your own fic. Also, I've decided this will be harem, albeit a small one (5 people, including Naruto, at the most.).

I've decided to give in, and use Japanese honorifics in the story. Previously, I had left out Japanese words altogether, for those of you not fortunate enough to know the language, but without the honorifics, there is a depth of emotion missing that I, as a writer, do not feel able to compensate for. Here they are, along with their meanings.

chan- close friend, female

kun- close friend, male

sensei- this seems obvious, but I'll put it in anyway... means 'teacher'

senpai- 'sir'

san- equivalent of 'mr.', 'mrs.', etc.

sama- implies great respect; can sometimes mean 'lord', or 'lady'

taijou- means 'captain'

dono- above sama, reserved generally for unfamiliar nobles, as far as I can tell. Usually attached to a title, not a name. (ex.: one would say Gaara-sama, or Kazekage-dono)

No, Gaara has no part in this story (yet) . That was just an example.

I'm not saying that I will be using all of these, but I might. Who knows... Anyway, as usual, I have not miraculously turned Japanese overnight, and thus own neither Naruto nor FFX.

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Naruto opened his eyes in the morning to find Hinata still asleep on the bed, and Lulu making breakfast. "Mornin', Lulu," he said, and yawned. "Good morning, Naruto," she replied, not taking her eyes off of the stove. Naruto woke Hinata, smiling at the enraptured look on her face, as she stared into his ocean-blue eyes. Lulu interrupted gently. "Breakfast is ready, you two." Naruto grinned, and Hinata blushed, as they sat down to eat together. Throughout the meal, Naruto's face began to take on a worried appearance. Lulu, noticing this, said, "You can tell her, she's strong enough." Hinata raised an eyebrow. "Strong enough for what, Naruto?" She looked at him questioningly, and he answered simply. "Kakashi-sensei is dead." Hinata's face, for the next few moments, was a mask of shock. Kakashi, dead? She began to cry, and Naruto moved over to hold her in his arms, comforting her with his presence. They stayed in the house all day, not doing much, besides reminiscing about Kakashi, most of this being done by Naruto. Not knowing Kakashi as well as Naruto had, she recovered quicker, but she was still shaking as they lay down for the night. "Naruto-kun, I-Im scared. You and I are the only people we really know in this world..." Her lavender eyes looked at him pleadingly. "P-please, don't leave me!" Naruto gazed at her gently as he slid under the covers next to her, holding her tightly against his chest, the rythm of her pounding heart contrasting sharply with the steady beat of his own. "Shh, Hinata-chan, don't worry. I won't leave you, ever." He smiled. "You're one of my precious people." Hinata smiled faintly at this, and held him tighter, falling asleep with her head on his chest.

The next morning, Naruto awoke to find Hinata still snuggled up to his chest, trembling, and whimpering in her sleep. Suddenly, a warm glow surrounded them both, and to Naruto, the rest of the world seemed to take on a reddish tint. Hinata quieted, and a small smile appeared on her face. "Ikari?" he whispered softly, not wanting to awaken Hinata. Ikari said nothing, but simply let a wave of emotion rush through his body... pure love, tinged with a hint of sadness. "Oh..." The world resumed its normal hue, leaving Naruto to think about what had just happened. Ikari, and him? Somehow, it just seemed ironic. Then, he looked at Hinata, and sighed. He knew he'd have to tell her sooner or later, being a jinchuuriki was too large a secret to keep from his love, but he worried about her reaction. And then, there was Ikari herself. He knew now, without a doubt, that she loved him; those emotions, flooding his body... There's no way those were fake. Again, he worried about Hinata. How would she take this? He knew her self-confidence was fragile at best, and something like this... well, he didn't think she could bear it. He couldn't do anything about it now, so... He gently removed Hinata from his chest, and got out of bed. Looking down, he noticed that there was something odd about his clothes. He was wearing a long white nightshirt. He hadn't noticed much yesterday, what with the grieving over... well, with the grieving, but he was pretty sure he'd been wearing this then, as well. He scanned the hut, looking for his clothes, only to find a shredded mass of orange in one of the corners, draped over a small table. "Crap.." Just then, Lulu walked in, and noticed him staring at his old clothes, a dejected look on his face. She smiled. "I got you some new clothes. Those are beyond repair, but I did manage to find some that are orange. Kakashi told me it was your favorite color." At this, she seemed to sadden a bit, but she shook it off, and handed Naruto a set of orange robes, with black flames ringing the bottom (On , look for Naruto- Within). Naruto, being Naruto, jumped up and down a lot, cackling like a maniac, until he tripped, and fell on his backside. Even Lulu, legendary for her frostiness, was hard pressed to not laugh, but she managed it somehow.

As she walked outside, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd forgotten something... until she heard an 'eep' followed by a soft thump, and she remembered. Naruto soon emerged from the hut, supporting a beet-red Hinata with his right arm. He grinned, and rubbed the back of his head with his other arm. "Well, how do I look?"

Lulu blushed. "Very nice, except for one thing..." Naruto looked confused. "What's that?" Lulu grimaced. "Naruto, you forgot to put your shirt on..." Naruto looked down his chest, bare except for the emerald-green necklace he always wore. "Oh! I wondered why Hinata was so red..." He grinned sheepishly. Lulu twitched. "Naruto, please, for the sake of her sanity, get a shirt on!" Naruto vanished into the hut, emerging a few seconds later, fully dressed, and still grinning. "Sorry, Hinata-chan, I wasn't paying attention." Hinata, now returning to her normal color, blushed again. "I-It's okay N-Naruto-kun. I-I didn't mind..." She looked down, twiddling with her fingers. Wakka and Chappu walked up just then, arguing heatedly. "You must be crazy, brudda! What about the Aurochs?" Chappu sighed. "Wakka, beatin' Sin is just a little more important than blitzball, ya?" Wakka scowled. "Ya, but with the Al Bhed? This is never gonna work! You know Sin can't be beat with machina, that's a summoner's job!" Chappu glared angrily at his older brother. "It might work, and then they won't have to sacrifice themselves! We have to try!" Chappu stormed off to the Crusader's lodge, leaving Wakka standing there, shaking his head dejectedly.

Lulu sighed. "That boy can be so stubborn sometimes..." Naruto looked confused. "What's an Al Bhed?" She sighed again. "The Al Bhed do not believe in the teachings of Yevon, as the rest of us do. As such, they use machina forbidden to us by Yevon. This makes many people angry, as they believe that the Al Bhed's continued use of these forbidden machina is the reason Sin is still here." Naruto blinked in confusion. "How do you get that? What is machina, anyway, and why is it forbidden?" Lulu shook her head, exasperated. "The teachings say that the reason Sin was created in the first place was because of all of the massively destructive machina used at the time, such as guns, cannon, and the like. It's the incarnation of the sins of our past, hence the name. Machina is simply another word for machine, usually used to refer to machines that are forbidden. Our hope is, if we don't use those machina, maybe Sin will stop coming back one day." Wakka joined them, sadness still written on the lines of his face. Naruto, in an attempt to cheer him up, suggested, "Hey! How about a trip to the beach? We can play blitzball!" At this, Wakka brightened considerably. "Ya! I'll go round up the team, we'll all go together!" Wakka went off to gather them, and Naruto dashed off towards the beach. Hinata and Lulu sweat-dropped simultaneously, before following him.

They eventually caught up with him, along with Wakka and the Aurochs, at the "safe voyage" shrine. (AN: i don't know a better way to describe it. It's that point just outside the village, where the three paths meet.) Together, they walked to the beach; Naruto was joking with Wakka, and a general light mood filled the air. When they reached the shore, however, a shocking sight greeted them: there, on the beach, was the corpse of what looked to be a 16-year-old girl, missing an arm. Naruto's eyes widened in shock, and he turned very pale, as he recognized the pink hair, red dress, and enormously large forehead of his former teammate, Sakura Haruno. Wakka, seeing Naruto's face, whispered, "She someone you know?" Naruto could only nod mutely, lost for words. Hinata was crying. "Sakura-chan..." Naruto and Hinata followed silently behind Wakka, as he carried the body to the island temple, for burial. A few days later, they held each other tightly tears streaming down their faces as they watched the casket descend into the cold, hard earth. Distracted by their grief, no one but Hinata saw the thin, reddish film that surrounded the two, comforting them with its warmth. "Oh, Naruto..." Ikari whispered.

Later, in Lulu's hut, Hinata and Naruto were laying together on their bed. Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, and whispered "I know this may not be the best time, Naruto-kun, but... something very strange happened at... at the funeral. There was this weird red chakra coming from you... Was that the Kyuubi?" Naruto sighed. "Yes and no... you see, I actually have two kitsune sealed within me..." A warm, motherly voice interrupted him. "Thank you, Naruto, but I think I'd rather tell this story myself. I've been thinking about that night often recently, especially since we arrived here, and I've figured out what happened." A thin stream of red chakra emerged from Naruto's mouth, and Ikari's mother appeared before them, with a red fox tail waving behind her back. Naruto gaped. "How'd you do that?!" She smiled. "Your seal only prevents the full release of my power, so I can let a little chakra out to assume a human form. Also, the seal doesn't affect Ikari at all, as she only has one tail. Come on out, daughter." At this, another trail of chakra, this one a light purple, came out of his mouth, assuming Ikari's human form, one pure white fox tail swishing behind her both turned to Hinata. "I am Mamori, and this is my daughter, Ikari. My husband, Akari was hypnotized by an Uchiha into attacking your village. You see, Kitsune families are bonded a little bit differently than human families; we share each other's power. When the Fourth Hokage sealed us, he took half of our combined power to the afterlife with him, sealing the other half within Naruto. At the time, I was still recovering from Ikari's birth, and was reduced to only eight tails, whereas my husband still had all nine. My husband was killed, leaving my one-tailed daughter and I within Naruto.

Hinata paused to digest this for a moment, before whispering, "Ikari-chan, you love Naruto-kun, don't you?" Ikari lowered her head, with a simple "Yes..." Her eyes widened as Hinata leapt up, and bear-hugged her. "Aren't you upset?" Hinata looked into her eyes and smiled. "Ikari-chan, I could never hate someone who loves Naruto." Ikari smiled, and hugged her back. Mamori smiled as well, allowing her chakra to be reabsorbed into Naruto. His response was a quiet "Wow." Hinata and Ikari both turned to him, love overflowing in their eyes. They laid in the bed, and held each other all night long.

They awoke in the morning to find a very weirded-out Lulu staring at the three of them, twitching. "Naruto, who is this, and why on Spira does she have a tail?!" Ikari growled. "Who are you, and why are you waking us up at this ungodly hour?" Naruto chuckled. "Calm down, Ikari. This is Lulu. It's her house we've been staying in. Lulu, remember the story I told you about the nine-tailed fox?" Lulu recoiled, staring at Ikari like she was... well, like she was a demon. Naruto, seeing her shock, rushed to explain. "It's not her." Lulu calmed down visibly. "Then what's with the tail?" Ikari growled, but Naruto ignored her, and said, "She's his daughter. His w-" but he was interrupted as Mamori decided to come out, and explain things herself. He rubbed his mouth, a faint tingling feeling remaining from her chakra. After Mamori's explanation, Lulu looked somewhat mollified, but she still had a curious look on his face. "Okay, but why are you in bed with him? Naruto, I thought you were with Hinata?" Naruto blushed, and Ikari began. "Since Hinata-chan and I both love him so much-" "-We decided to sh-share him..." Hinata turned bright red as she finished, matching the color of Lulu's face perfectly. Lulu swayed a bit, as if she were going to faint, but she managed to pull herself together. "That's... interesting..." She hurriedly left the hut, her face still a brilliant crimson. "If he can have more than one, then that means..." She shook her head violently to dispel those thoughts. She liked Chappu, didn't she? But Naruto... This was so confusing...

Ikari and Mamori returned to Naruto, and, with Hinata, he decided to go visit Wakka and his brother at the Crusaders' lodge. Inside, they found only Chappu, who was about to walk out the door. There was a sad look on his face. He looked at the two, and sighed. "Hey, guys. I'm goin' soon. The operation's a couple of days from now, so... Could you tell my brudda I'm sorry? We had a really big fight last night, and I gotta go soon." Naruto nodded. "Sure thing. I hope you come back safe." Chappu smiled. "Here. I have no use for this; I never was very good with a sword, anyway." He handed Naruto a blade that looked to be made completely of water, with a blue dragon's head on the hilt. Chappu headed towards the beach, confidence in his step.

Naruto decided to go and ask Lulu about the training scrolls she told him about earlier. He found her in the woods, thinking; what she was thinking about, he couldn't tell, but Hinata saw the look on her faces, and she had a pretty good guess. "The scroll? Oh. It's right here." She took out a small scroll from somewhere in her dress, and handed it to Naruto. His face fell when he saw how small it was, but immediately brightened when he saw the note from the pervy sage on the front. He read it out loud, excitement saturating his voice. "This scroll contains all of the training and jutsu scrolls I could find, including a few from the one who taught me the sage arts, the toad sage Fukasaku. I'd suggest reading that one first, as using it will power up all of your other jutsu. Also, you should make learning the Hiraishin a priority, as it is likely the only way for you to get home. This scroll will automatically unseal when exposed to your blood. Please, kid, don't die on me. Come back safe.

PS: There are also letters from Konoha, and some jutsu for Hinata, just in case Kakashi can't get you home." He winced as he read that last, but at the thought of new jutsu, his sorrow was dispelled.

Quickly, he carried the scroll to a secluded spot in the woods he'd discovered earlier, with Hinata right behind him. He bit his thumb, and wiped it on the scroll. With a loud 'poof', 9 scrolls appeared. Following his sensei's advice, he picked up the scroll labeled 'Sage Arts', while Hinata chose the one labeled 'Medical Jutsu'. Once they both had had their scrolls, Naruto sealed the other seven back into the original. Unraveling his scroll, Naruto read the explanation about the third type of chakra, Nature chakra.

(I don't really need to explain this, do I? If you don't know, you need to watch/read Shippuden). He released the small seal near the explanation, and a bottle of toad oil appeared, along with an oddly-shaped wooden stick. Naruto groaned. Ikari was gonna have fun with this.

Several hours later, Naruto was still sitting on the ground, covered in toad oil, and sore all over. So far he'd managed to hold Sage Mode for about half a minute, before beginning to transform, and being whacked with the stick by Ikari. He looked up at her accusingly."You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Ikari grinned. "Whatever gave you that idea?" He sighed, then turned to Hinata, who was chopping up a log for firewood with her chakra scalpels. "Hey, Hinata-chan, it's about time to go back. You ready?" Hinata finished chopping, and gathered the wood in her arms. "Yes, Naruto-kun. I was just getting some wood." Naruto created a shadowclone, and had him carry the wood, and the other three walked to the village entrance, before Naruto stopped them. "Ikari-chan, shouldn't you be getting back to your mother?" Ikari shook her head. "Naruto-kun, I love you, and I don't care what people here will think of me. I've been hiding my whole life, and I'm tired of it. Please, can we just be together?" Naruto smiled. "Of course, Ikari-chan. You know I feel the same way, about both of you." They walked to Lulu's house arm-in-arm, ignoring the curious looks of the villagers. Naruto laid on the bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. The two girls giggled at the cute look on his face, and joined him.

A few days passed. Naruto and Hinata were getting better; she could heal skin injuries, and was working on muscle injuries. Naruto could now hold Sage mode for a full minute. The villagers were constantly whispering about 'that foreign boy', and how it wasn't right that anyone should have more than one partner. For the most part he ignored them; he was used to people not thinking well of him, albeit for a different reason.

He awoke to hear the sound of whispering in the village center. "Great. Can't they at least wait until the sun rises?" Ikari was listening intently. "They're not talking about us." He raised an eyebrow, and they all left the hut to find out what was going on. He was puzzled to see that many of them had devastated expressions on their faces, until he heard what they were talking about. "All those crusaders!" "Did any of them survive?" "They should have known better than to trust machina." Off to the side, Wakka was sitting on the ground, head on his knees. Lulu was trying to comfort him, though she wasn't much better off than he was. Both looked up at Naruto, their eyes completely empty. At a loss for words, Naruto simply stood there, unsure of what to do. Yuna came over, a large, bestial creature walking behind her. His fur was blue. She hugged Wakka, then Lulu, and they began showing some signs of life. Living with them wouldn't be much fun for a week or so, but they'd move on eventually.

Several hours later...

Naruto, Hinata, Ikari, Yuna, and the mysterious blue-furred creature were in Yuna's room at the temple. Yuna introduced him as Kimahri. Naruto offered his hand, but Kimahri just stood there, silent as stone. He pulled it back with a sigh. "I wish there were something we could do for them..." Yuna nodded. "Yeah, me too. I really don't like seeing people suffer like that; that's why I decided to become a summoner. Soon, I'll become a full summoner, and I'll be able to bring peace to Spira; at least, for a while..." She looked up at him. "I know this probably isn't the best time, but... When I go on my pilgrimmage, will you three be my guardians?" Naruto looked at Hinata, then Ikari. They both nodded. "Yeah, we'll protect you, no matter what! That's a promise!" Kimahri surprised them all by saying, "Thank you. This means much to Yuna." Naruto gaped at him. "You can talk?!" Yuna laughed. Behind Naruto, Ikari and Hinata were looking at each other. Even if Naruto hadn't, they'd caught the other meaning in Kimahri's words. First Lulu, and now Yuna? Silently, they agreed to talk to the two later. They walked out with Naruto, into the last rays of the setting sun. Life was about to get a whole lot more interesting...

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AN: No, I am not a Sakura-hater, but for the purpose of this story, she had to die. Unlike Seymour, she stays dead, as well.

For an idea of what Mamori looks like: .com/art/Kyuubi-no-kitsune-61411517

And for .com/art/Kyuubi-no-Youko-78250149

Note: Ikari's eyes are blue, while Mamori's are red.

2nd note: Mamori means 'protection', while Akari means 'power of god'. In case you've forgotten, Ikari means 'wrath of god'. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	5. Announcement

Announcement

Okay, I know that discourages author's notes as chapters, but I figure that this would reach more people than simply editing my profile - almost no one ever looks at those.

Anyway.

Recently, I've been faced with a dramatic decrease in free time. This translates into a good deal less attention to my stories, and so I am left with one option.

Adoption.

Yes, that's right. I'm keeping Partners, obviously, and maybe Scars, once I rewrite a couple parts in it, but anything else, I don't really have enough attention for.

However, I'm not just gonna give these away to the first guy (Or girl) who asks. To ensure that they find a good home, I'd like a message with the name of the story you'd like to adopt, as well as an example of your own work. I want to make sure that these ideas will get the time and attention they deserve, by an author who, at the very least, knows how to spell.


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